Kompany told the Manchester Evening News: "I think all of them will make a big difference. Just watching Frank Lampard in training for example, people won’t tip him as one of the players to make the biggest difference for us this season but he looks amazing, unbelievable.

“The new guys as well are all players that will improve our team and give us a good chance of having a good season.”

Meanwhile, at the other end of the M62 Brendan Rodgers has also been speaking about the upcoming Premier League encounter at the Etihad Stadium – that is, when he wasn’t constantly being asked about Mario Balotelli!

The Daily Mail quote the Liverpool manager as saying: “We understand that sometimes you have to take a risk and if you take a risk you can get your reward. Our team spirit is very strong and it got us through the game last week. You will fight for each other when the squad is close.”

He added: “We'll go to Man City with no fear, as we've done before. We'll attack the game.

“The title is decided over the course of the 38 games, not just the big games like Monday's. But the aim is to perform and win.

“The nature of both teams is the offensive game, but they're normally tight games. Both teams will want to score. We know we need to press well and control the game. We can hurt teams, it'll be a good game for sure.”

All eyes (and TV cameras) on the Etihad at 8pm on Monday then…

Only a crumb of transfer speculation out there today, and that’s concerning Micah Richards.

“He has played a lot of football at the highest levels – Champions League, European Championships and World Cups - and the feedback we’ve got on him, from people like Neil Lennon, states he thrives on the big occasion.”

Well, we’ll look forward to seeing him back at the Etihad later in the season – just no goals on that occasion, eh?